Cooperative Profile

If you receive your electric power from Maquoketa Valley Electric Cooperative (MVEC), you are a member and part owner of a cooperative providing electric service to over 14,000 members across 3,100 miles of line. MVEC, organized December 27, 1935, is a private, non-profit electric utility owned by the members it serves and was established to provide reliable electric service at the lowest possible cost. Headquartered in Anamosa, Iowa, the membership covers a range of home, farm, business, and commercial members in Delaware, Dubuque, Jackson, and Jones counties as well as portions of Buchanan, Cedar, Clayton, Clinton and Linn counties. Local ownership, local control, non-profit operation and cooperation... your Cooperative is something special, a unique way of doing business.

Mission Statement of

Maquoketa Valley Electric Cooperative

We will be the utility of choice by providing reliable, quality services in a safe, respectful, enviromentally responsible, cost-effective manner that benefits our members' quality of life and promotes the success of their local communities.

Organizational Values

We Value:

SafetyWe will consistently promote a culture of safety for the protection of our employees, membership, and general public.

Our MembersWe will treat each member with respect and as an individual, balancing their needs with the needs of our members as a whole. We will always welcome our members' opinions and include their current and future needs in our plans, decisions and actions.

Our EmployeesWe will recognize employees as individuals and provide each with a safe, positive working enviroment with an opportunity for growth and success.

Open Communication

We will communicate and share information openly with our members and employees, with respect for confidential information.

Our EnviromentWe will show respect for our physical enviroment, striving to preserve it for the members and employees of tomorrow.

InnovationWe will utilize advanced technology and encourage innovative methods when cost effective to enhance delivered services and quality of life.

IntegrityWe will match our words with consistent actions. We will conduct our business with utmost integrity and ethics.

AccountabilityWe are accountable to our members and responsible for our actions. We will be fiscally responsible in conducting our business for our members.

Our Local CommunitiesWe will care for our communities by supporting employee involvement and allocating resources to activities and projects that will enhance quality of life for our members.

What Is A Cooperative?

Maquoketa Valley Electric Cooperative (MVEC) is a cooperative organized as a not-for-profit utility. It does not sell stock and is not under pressure to earn profits for absentee stockholders.

If MVEC collects more money than it needs to operate, it reinvests those margins into the system—keeping its need to borrow high-interest capital to a minimum. The board of directors determines when those margins are refunded – in the form of patronage dividends—to the people who paid for the electricity in the year the margin occurred.

Since cooperative rates are set by those who pay them, many states find no need to regulate those rates.

Electric cooperatives serve many rural, less-densely populated areas compared to other utilities. Providing electric service in these areas tends to be more difficult and costly than in urban areas.

Anyone who buys electricity from Maquoketa Valley Electric Cooperative is a member; all members share ownership of the Cooperative and have a voice in its operation.

Each member has one vote in the election of the Cooperative’s board of directors and in any other decisions brought up at the Cooperative’s annual meeting (Click here for time & place).

Directors of the Cooperative are also members, who serve without salary, except for a per diem and expenses to cover their out-of-pocket costs in serving the Cooperative. The board of directors hires a CEO to take charge of operating the Cooperative for the benefit of its members.

7 Cooperative Prinicipals

Voluntary and Open Membership

Membership in cooperatives is voluntary and open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership—without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.

Democratic Member Control

Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership. Members have equal voting rights—one member, one vote.

Members’ Economic Participation

Members democratically control and equally contribute to the capital of their cooperative. Members may allocate surpluses for any of the following purposes: developing the cooperative; setting up reserves; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.

Autonomy and Independence

Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative’s autonomy.

Education, Training and Information

Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers and employees. They inform the general public about the nature and benefits of cooperation.

Cooperation Among Cooperatives

Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international organizations.

Concern for Community

While focusing on members’ needs, cooperatives work to develop their communities by encouraging economic development, promoting education and advocating safe use of electricity.